Generally, for an electrical connector provided at an edge of a circuit board, if a mating direction of the electrical connector is parallel to a board surface of the circuit board, an electrical connection between the electrical connector and the circuit board is easily damaged due to improper external force, for example, when a force exerted during inserting or pulling out a mating connector of the electrical connector is not parallel to the board surface of the circuit board, the electrical connector would be oscillated so that terminals of the electrical connector will be easily separated from the circuit board.
In order to have the electrical connection between the electrical connector and the circuit board reliable, for example, Taiwan Utility Model Patent publication No. 547808 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,699,070 and China Patent CN2582195Y) discloses an electrical connector having a latching element, a circuit board is clamped by the latch element and an insulative body, that is, the circuit board is clamped between the latch element and the insulative body, which may avoid the electrical connector from oscillating when the electrical connector is subjected to an improper force exerted so as to increase reliability of electrical connection between conductive electrical terminals and the circuit board.
However, a spacing distance between the latch element and the insulative body is constant, it only can be used to clamp a circuit board which has a specified thickness matched with the spacing distance, so it is difficult to mount the electrical connector to circuit boards with different thickness specifications. In addition, there is not a lot of room for adjustments in use. When attempted to be used with the circuit board of different thickness, the connector and the latching element as whole usually require a revised or modified mold, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost.